It is customary to attach a bicycle carrier to the rear frame of a cycle by providing a strap on the carrier which is screwed to a strip of sheet metal, typically steel, formed with openings for attachment screws, which is slipped around the rear fork elements of a bicycle. Screws are then passed through a strap element of the carrier and the forward and rear part of the metal strip. When the bolts and nuts of the screws are tightened, the carrier is secured while, at the same time, the strips which are passed around the fork elements of the rear fork are clamped thereto. This arrangement has a disadvantage in that the luggage carrier, particularly if more heavily loaded, is apt to slip on the bicycle frame, since the attachment of the carrier to the rear fork elements usually leaves clearance between the screws, the metal strip and the tightening nuts. This attachment is unreliable, particularly when the cycle is subject to jarring or severe vibrations, and results in slippage of the attachment of the carrier to the bicycle. The arrangement is, additionally, suitable essentially only for bicycles to which it is matched, that is, in which the spacing between the elements of the rear fork of the bicycle is essentially constant, and the attachment strap is designed for use with just one type of bicycle having given spacing dimensions of the rear fork elements.
Another arrangement to secure a cycle carrier to a bicycle uses two strips, both formed with openings for attachment bolts and nuts. The strip which is remote from the cycle carrier is bent so that the bent ends at least partially surround the fork elements of the cycle. To attach a carrier with this arrangement to the rear fork of a bicycle, the carrier is first loosely attached to the cycle and then the bent-over strap is located opposite the carrier against the rear fork; both are then passed through matching openings and the portion of the strap and nuts placed thereon and the bolts are then tightened, tightening in turn the bent-over portions against the bicycle frame, and specifically against the rear fork elements thereof. This arrangement also does not ensure reliable attachment since the metal strap and the counter strap usually formed by the carrier itself can slip with respect to the bicycle frame; this arrangement has the additional disadvantage that it is suitable only for bicycle frame of predetermined fork spacing, to match the spacing of the bent portions of the strap and usually only for fork elements of a certain size which may not exceed a predetermined value since, otherwise, the bent-over ends will not fit around the fork elements.